The laughter didn't sound like joy. It sounded like broken glass.
Takeshi stood frozen in the center of the University of Tokyo's cafeteria. His hand was still extended, clutching the cheap convenience store bouquet. The flowers were wilting.
Just like him.
"You?" Yuki covered her mouth, but the sound escaped anyway. A sharp, high-pitched giggle that acted as a signal flare for the rest of the room. "Takeshi-kun, are you serious? You and... me?"
She didn't say "no." She didn't have to.
The silence that followed lasted exactly one second. Then, the table of varsity soccer players behind her exploded.
"Dude thinks he's the protagonist!" someone shouted. "Look at his shoes! They have holes in them!"
The heat climbed up Takeshi's neck. It felt like physical burns. He lowered his hand. The plastic wrapper of the flowers crinkled—the only sound he could hear over the blood rushing in his ears.
He didn't speak. He couldn't. His vocal cords had paralyzed themselves to save him from further embarrassment.
He turned.
"Wait, Takeshi!" Yuki called out, wiping a tear of mirth from her eye. "I didn't mean to laugh! It's just... you're really funny."
Funny.
The word hit him harder than a fist. He wasn't a man to her. He was entertainment. He was the comic relief in the movie of her life.
Takeshi ran.
The apartment smelled of mildew and instant ramen.
Takeshi slammed the door shut and slid down against it until he hit the floor. The metal was cold against his back. It was the only thing holding him up.
Six tatami mats. A futon that had seen better days. A cracked mirror leaning against the wall.
He crawled over to the mirror. The face staring back was pathetic. Messy black hair that hadn't been cut in months. Shoulders slumped forward from years of looking at the ground. Eyes that held zero light.
"I'm a mob character," he whispered to the empty room.
It wasn't self-pity. It was a statistical fact.
Age: 22. Girlfriend: None. Bank Balance: 4,000 Yen ($26). Future: Convenience store night shifts until he died alone.
He threw the crushed flowers into the trash bin. They landed on top of a pile of unpaid bills.
"I wish..." Takeshi gripped his chest. The pain there was real. A heavy, suffocating weight. "I wish I knew what they wanted. I wish life came with a manual."
He closed his eyes, waiting for the tears.
DING.
A sound. Crisp. Digital. Like a smartphone notification, but echoing inside his skull.
Takeshi's eyes snapped open.
The room was dark, but a pale blue light illuminated his face. It wasn't coming from the window. It was floating in the air, right in front of his nose.
A translucent holographic screen.
[ SYSTEM INITIALIZING... ]
Takeshi blinked. He rubbed his eyes. He slapped his own cheek. Hard.
The screen didn't move.
[ HOST DETECTED: TAKESHI YAMADA ][ ATTRIBUTE SCAN: COMPLETE ][ STATUS: PATHETIC ]
"Hey," Takeshi croaked, his voice cracking. "Even a hallucination insults me?"
[ INSTALLING CHARM POINT SYSTEM (CPS)... 100% ]
The blue light shifted to gold. The text rewrote itself, scrolling faster than he could read, until it settled on a sleek, game-like interface.
[ WELCOME, HOST. ][ Life is a game. You have been playing on 'Hard Mode' with zero stats. ][ Would you like to switch to 'God Mode'? ]
Below the text, two buttons hovered. [ YES ] / [ NO ]
Takeshi reached out. His finger passed through the light, but as he mentally focused on 'YES', the button depressed with a satisfying click.
A rush of warmth flooded his body. It felt like drinking hot coffee on a snow day. The sensation started in his chest and spread to his fingertips.
[ ACTIVATION SUCCESSFUL ]
[ STATS WINDOW ]Name: Takeshi Yamada Charm: 3 (Average Male: 50) Wealth: Very Low Skills: None Current Harem: 0
[ CHARM POINTS (CP): 0 ]
Takeshi stared at the number. Charm: 3?
"Three out of what?" he muttered. "A hundred?"
[ SYSTEM NOTICE: Charm of '3' is equivalent to a 'wet cardboard box'. ]
Takeshi let out a dry laugh. "Okay. I get it. So what do you do? Show me how much of a loser I am?"
[ MISSION ALERT ]
The screen flashed red.
[ TUTORIAL QUEST: THE FIRST STEP ]Objective: Make one woman genuinely smile at you. Time Limit: 24 Hours. Reward: 100 CP + Beginner's Gift Package. Failure Penalty: Permanent loss of System.
"Make a woman smile?" Takeshi stood up, his knees popping. "Did you see what happened today? I made the whole cafeteria laugh. Does that count?"
[ SYSTEM NOTICE: Mockery is not a smile. Genuine affection required. ]
He flopped onto his futon. Great. Impossible. The only woman he spoke to was Yuki, and he couldn't show his face at college for at least a decade. The cashier at the convenience store wore a mask and hated everyone.
He was doomed.
Thump.
A sound from the hallway.
Takeshi froze. The walls in this building were paper-thin, but the apartment next door had been empty for months. The landlord said nobody wanted it because of the 'strange smell'—though Takeshi was pretty sure the smell was just his own cooking coming through the vents.
Thump. Scrape.
Moving boxes.
Curiosity warred with depression. Curiosity won.
Takeshi stood up and crept to the door. He didn't want to go out, but he had left his umbrella outside earlier. If it rained tomorrow and he lost his umbrella, he might actually jump off a bridge.
He cracked the door open.
The hallway light was flickering, buzzing like a dying insect.
Standing in front of the door to Apartment 202 was a woman.
Takeshi stopped breathing.
She was struggling with a massive cardboard box marked 'BOOKS'. She wore a sharp beige pencil skirt and a white blouse that looked expensive—far too expensive for this dump of a building. Her hair was a silky chestnut cascade that fell over her shoulders as she bent down.
Even from the back, she radiated an aura of elegance that made Takeshi feel like dirt.
She adjusted her grip on the box, let out a soft grunt of effort, and turned slightly.
Takeshi saw her profile. High cheekbones, long lashes, lips painted a subtle shade of coral. She looked like the kind of woman who drank wine that cost more than his rent.
But that wasn't what made Takeshi gasp.
It was the floating text above her head.
[ TARGET DETECTED ]Name: Sae Kirigaya Age: 26 Occupation: Senior Marketing Director Current Mood: Frustrated / Exhausted
And right next to her head, a pink heart hovered. Inside the heart was a number.
[ AFFECTION: 0/100 ]
The woman, Sae, heard his door creak. She snapped her head toward him. Her eyes were sharp, intelligent, and currently narrowed in suspicion.
Takeshi felt the familiar panic rising. The urge to slam the door and hide. She's an elite. You're a mob. Hide.
But then, a new window popped up next to her face.
[ OPTIMAL DIALOGUE DETECTED ]Cost: 0 CP (Tutorial Freebie)Option A: "You look heavy. The box, I mean." (Risk: 80% Creep Factor) Option B: Say nothing and stare. (Risk: 100% Police involvement) Option C: "Excuse me, the lock on that door sticks. You have to lift the handle up, not down." (Success Rate: 95%)
Takeshi stared at Option C.
He knew that door. He'd lived here for two years. The lock did stick.
Sae was currently jiggling her key, her brow furrowed in annoyance. The 'Current Mood' tag above her flashed from [Frustrated] to [Angry].
Takeshi swallowed dryly. His heart hammered against his ribs like a trapped bird.
Don't run, he told himself. Not this time.
He stepped into the hallway.
"Umm..." His voice came out as a squeak. He cleared his throat. "Excuse me."
Sae paused, the key half-turned. She looked at him. Her gaze swept over his worn-out hoodie and messy hair. The number in the pink heart flickered.
[ AFFECTION: -1 (Wary) ]
"Yes?" Her voice was cool ice.
Takeshi looked at the floating blue text of Option C. He read it like a teleprompter.
"The... the lock on that door," Takeshi stammered, pointing a shaking finger. "It sticks. You have to lift the handle up while you turn. Not down."
Sae blinked. She looked at the door handle, then back at him. Skepticism was written all over her face.
But she tried it. She pulled the handle up. She turned the key.
Click.
The door swung open smoothly.
Sae froze. The tension in her shoulders dropped instantly. She let out a breath she must have been holding for ten minutes.
She turned back to Takeshi. The ice in her eyes melted, just a fraction.
"Oh," she said, surprised. "I've been fighting with that for twenty minutes. I thought I had the wrong key."
She shifted the heavy box in her arms and looked him in the eye. For the first time today—maybe the first time in years—a woman was looking at him without disgust or pity.
Her lips curved up. A small, polite, but undeniable smile.
"Thank you," she said softly. "You saved me."
DING!
The sound exploded in Takeshi's head like a cannon.
[ MISSION ACCOMPLISHED ][ Target: Sae Kirigaya smiled. ][ REWARD: 100 CP ][ SYSTEM SHOP UNLOCKED ]
But Takeshi wasn't looking at the system screen. He was looking at the pink heart above her head.
The number rolled over like a slot machine.
[ AFFECTION: -1 ] -> [ AFFECTION: 5 (Acquaintance) ]
"I..." Takeshi realized he was staring. "I'm Takeshi. Next door."
"Sae," she replied. She stepped into her apartment. "Nice to meet you, Takeshi-kun."
The door clicked shut.
Takeshi stood alone in the dim hallway. The smell of her perfume—vanilla and something crisp, like expensive paper—lingered in the air.
He looked at the golden screen hovering in the darkness.
[ CURRENT CP: 100 ][ SHOP: NEW ITEM AVAILABLE - "Basic Hygiene Kit (Rank F)" - Cost: 50 CP ]
Takeshi touched his messy hair. A slow grin spread across his face. It wasn't the fake smile he used to hide the pain. It was the hungry grin of a man who had just found a weapon in a gunfight.
"Takeshi-kun," he repeated her words.
The Mob Character was dead.
The Player had just logged in.